Drywood termites live and forage in a sound wood. The damage from their infestations can stay invisible for long periods of time. The lumber, attacked by drywood termites, looks safe and sound, though it is absolutely hollow inside. Homeowners are aware of the risks and regularly check up their home for the evidence of infestation to start the insect elimination as early as possible. In this article you will learn how to use heat treatment for drywood termites successfully.

Drywood termites live and nest in small colonies in sound lumber and timbers. They feed on the grain and elaborate gallery systems a few meters within their home wood. Freeimages.com/David Thomson

Heat treating for drywood termites diy

Termites die under exposure to high temperatures. This thermal method is available for limited infestations of drywood termites. If the items, attacked by drywood pests, are relatively small and portable (furniture pieces, books, picture frames), you can treat for termites yourself. The goods should be taken outside during the hottest part of the day in summer. It takes the homeowners 2 or 3 days to expose the items to the direct sunlight (heat and radiation) for proper extermination. Sun radiation or heat kills termites’ colonies naturally.

Drywood termites heat treatment by professionals

In case of large number of accessible colonies of known location, pest control companies recommend to use heat process to kill termites. In fact, heat treatment for drywood termites is an eco-friendly alternative to the chemical gas fumigation and one of the best ways of getting rid of these insects. This method requires a trained and licensed specialist to perform the thermal treatment.

Whole house heat treatment for drywood termites

The termite professional service inspects your home inside and outside in search of active areas, which are infested with wood pests. Once the activities are detected, the termite specialist offers the ways of pest extermination and develops a treatment plan. He also gives recommendations what to do and how to prepare your home before applying the heat treatment for drywood termites. The homeowners are instructed what household appliances are obligatory to shut off and to remove (for the risk of damage) and if pre-drilling is likely to be required. Whole house heat treatment for drywood termites is performed only after the homeowners’ leaving the house for some time. The extermination will take about 4-8 hours. Pets and home plants must be also taken away.

After all the necessary measures are taken and the equipment is set-up, the professional operator with the help of a special heating apparatus – the heater- blows or blasts hot air through the holes and cracks in the walls throughout your house. It is necessary to expose the areas, where drywood termites live, to high temperatures, to a level beyond which termites won’t be able to survive. How can it be obtained? The heat blasting method for termites raises the air temperature and it reaches 120°-140° Fahrenheit level. It is sufficiently enough for the heat gun to maintain the temperature of 120° Fahrenheit inside infested wood structures for approx. 30-40 minutes to eradicate drywood termites.

Professional pest control companies can apply a well-known method – the heat treatment for drywood termites control. They use a heat gun to reach a temperature of about 120° F inside the lumber. This heat level is sufficient to kill the termites. Freeimages.com/Josh Klute

Small infestations for heat chamber treatment

If you have small, limited infestations of drywood termites, the items (furniture pieces, books, picture frames), the professional can treat them in a special heat chamber. The operator puts the wooden goods into the enclosed chamber for four hours and maintains the temperature of 140° F.

High temperature of 140° F (or 60° C) must be sustained in the heat chamber to exterminate drywood termites from small wooden items. The heat treatment lasts 4 hours in this case. Freeimages.com/Jose Gregorio Sanchez Duarte

Advantages and drawbacks of heat treatment for drywood termites

This method is the most effective for active infestations in open timbers. It is a green method, which doesn’t leave chemical residue. In this case, heat treatment for drywood termites doesn’t provide protection against reinfestations. Supplementary non-chemical and chemical control is required. The serious disadvantage of this thermal heat treatment for termites is that your house and furniture cannot withstand high temperatures and can be damaged.